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Snell problems

spark1 said:
There are pics of series II and III crossovers online with the braided wiring...which I don't think is necessarily the same as Kimbercable. The Kimber cable I've seen seems more interwoven.

And I agree about Kimber cable changing tonal character. Someone gave me a set years ago...I finally tried it and it made the speakers I used it with (Snell, Thiel, Vandersteen) overly bright. I don't want cables I can hear, so I quit using it.

As for the original series, the few pics I found had "normal" wiring...so I think you may be right in your conjecture that the braided wire was a Voecks thing.

But certainly you're not suggesting that Snell speakers after the first series are more likely than other brands to push vintage amps into oscillation?
Click to expand...

If that's the cable that's in them- then, the possibility exists. That type of braided cable geometry is very high capacitance. Many vintage amps do not like that, at all.

If anyone finds a newer Snell to be overly "bright" or "harsh" on a vintage amp- that would be something that I would check for. Snells should not be bright or harsh...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Something that I recently found out about my Type C speakers. Originally Snell used a certain tweeter. When that was not available they switched to another brand. The problem is, if you have the original tweeter and replace it with a Snell tweeter, you get the newer one. That requires some additional things to be put into the mix or the sound will be very bright.
I am not an electronics wizard, in fact I am less than a novice. My Type C’s had replacement tweeters in them and I had the crossovers rebuilt. Whoever had the speakers before didn’t do the additional things when they replaced the tweeters. This was OK in a midfi receiver application, where I could adjust the tone controls slightly. However when I upgraded to a quality amp and preamp the speakers became very harsh sounding. A lot of questioning and research later, we discovered the problem.
I’m in the process of getting this fixed now. Hopefully once done I will have what they are meant to sound like.
 
So I had one speaker laying on its back the other day while I was checking out the drivers but since the foam won't arrive until next week I picked it up. And there on the floor almost directly underneath the port was a roach, and I'm not talking about superfluous marijuana.

I HATE BUGS!!!

So after I smashed it to hell I quickly covered up the ports with that clear packing tape as well as covered over the foamless woofers with saran wrap and more tape

I HATE BUGS!!!

I'm going to have to take them outside, take the insulation out and fumigate both speakers. Please God let this be a hitchhiker...a single male hitchhiker and not a nest. Please!

I HATE BUGS!!!

Be careful with those second hand acquisitions


I HATE FRIGGING BUGS!!!
 
So after ensuring there were no insect infestations I refoamed the woofers today. I didn't even change the binder posts but instead fitted a piece of solid copper wire that I had laying about just to test. I put on Quincy Jones Soul Bossa Nova as the first test song and...


BLAHHHH!!! :wtf:

BLAHHHH BLAHHHH BLAAAAAAAAHHHH


It seems that 1 woofer is bad. If I depress it with my fingers, it is stiff and makes a scratchy sound :(
 
Sounds like you may not have gotten the surround on correctly, and the coil/former is rubbing on the pole piece. How did you center them (shims or 30Hz tone?)

Playing them with a rubbing coil can quickly cause damage. This must be addressed.

When the surround was off, could you make the cone move freely, without rubbing? That's the way to know if the coil is already deformed. With the foam off, it will of course rub easily, but if you are able to get it to move up and down without rubbing (by assuring that you keep it going perfectly straight up and down), then you know that it is not deformed.
 
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spark1 said:
Sounds like you may not have gotten the surround on correctly, and the coil/former is rubbing on the pole piece. How did you center them (shims or 30Hz tone?)

Playing them with a rubbing coil can quickly cause damage. This must be addressed.

When the surround was off, could you make the cone move freely, without rubbing? That's the way to know if the coil is already deformed. With the foam off, it will of course rub easily, but if you are able to get it to move up and down without rubbing (by assuring that you keep it going perfectly straight up and down), then you know that it is not deformed.
Click to expand...

I read someplace that they were self centering so no shimming was required. While I was working on the first one I was on the phone and was slightly distracted and I neglected to remove the glue residue from edge the woofer. Once I realized my stupidity and before the glue had totally set, I pulled the foam off, removed the old glue residue that had migrated to the foam, reglued the foam and hoped for the best. There is definitely a slightly more pronounced lip on that one. The second woofer looks and sounds just fine

<sips beer>

I still don't see how that could cause this issue but I will be the first to admit I don't know much about speakers
 
No foam is "self centering". That is not possible. Barring any forces applied by the person doing the work, the cone will indeed tend to settle in a centered fashion, mostly as a function of the pull/force of the spider. But this is not a perfectly reliable method.

Therefore, you MUST take steps to assure that the coil is centered when glueing the new foam to the frame. Hoping for the best is not a good strategy.

If you glue the foam to the frame in such a way that the cone is being pulled off center, it will not move up and down in a "straight" line. Instead it will move at some angle...and since the former is glued to the cone, it will also get pulled at an angle. The result = binding/rubbing=coil damage.
 
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And though I have reformed a couple of different speakers, that is why a professional company does my Snells, when they need it. For me, Snells are just too special for my fumbly fingers.
I hope you get this fixed.
 
At some point after buying my JIII's I removed the woofer and tweeter to see what was inside. That's just something I do. Gotta see what makes it tick*.
I don't recall seeing any special or twisted cabling, but that was a long time ago.
Come to think of it, I had the woofers refoamed by a speaker shop, so again I had access to the inside, don't recall anything different than ordinary wiring inside.
If they weren't boxed up and under a stack of other gear I'd pull one out to look again.


*Not just speakers, pretty much any piece of gear I obtain. If by chance I actually buy a NEW piece I wait until the warranty runs out before playing Gadget Inspector.
 
After scrubbing every vestige of old and not so old adhesive from the woofer frame and cone, I finally re-refoamed the woofer early this morning. Then after looking at that the results of my wire tinning exercises I decided against replacing the binding posts for now :rflmao:and used some solid 12 gauge copper wire as jumpers. I refuse to show pictures of my soldering because they may be used against me in later threads :rolleyes:

The first 10 songs played from the archives were a mix of 16 & 24 bit flac files:

Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue
James Last - Somewhere, My Love
Quincy Jones - Soul Bossa Nova
Melody Gardot - C’est Magnifique
Serge Gainsbourg - Couleur Café
Ibrahim Ferrer - Herido de Sombras
Mina - Un Anno D'Amore
Maxwell - This Woman's Work (Unplugged version)
The Hollies - The Air That I Breathe
Eagles - Hotel California, MTV Unplugged version

"Mein Gott!!!" I exclaimed, which was even more remarkable because I don't speak German. After that I decided to put the speakers through its paces:

Hector Lavoe - Escarcha
Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon
Bee Gees - Too Much Heaven
Maxwell - Whenever Wherever Whatever (Unplugged version)
Rick James & Teena Marie - Fire and Desire
Susheela Raman - Ye Mera Divanapan Hai
Maxwell - Ascension
Yuna - Best Love
Lorde - Royals
Lost Boyz - Music Makes Me High
Mobb Deep - Shook Ones, Pt. II


I think I'm in love

 
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